All was forgiven after last week, wasn't it? That chilly spring, the tepid June, the rude cool of September, all forgotten. We walk around bathed in the golden light pouring through the trees, marveling at the rich interplay of solemn browns and brash bright yellow, the dash of crimson against the broad strokes of green, and think: A fella could really overwrite about this if he put his mind to it. But last week was as good as it ever gets around here -- all the postcard-perfect autumnal color with sunshine that blared out one last long chord before it retreats to the piccolo-trickle of winter. Who didn't walk around and think: Blessed are we, the Minnesotans! Woe unto those who bake in Arizona with naught but prickling things in their yards, woe to those who sweat in the torpor of the swampy South! This is why we're here! This!

It may come as a surprise that we're supposed to be sad.

In fact, we are sad. Saddest in the nation. The proof? The most authoritative you can find, a List on the Internet. The sports site Grantland.com declared the Twin Cities the saddest, most depressed sports town in the nation this week, because of the Vikings and the Twins and the Goofs. (The Lynx don't count, apparently, because they're girls, duh.) If your emotional temperature is dependent upon the vagaries of games, well, yes, it's regrettable, but I don't think people find themselves unable to concentrate at work because of the Vikings, unless they are the Vikings.

Here's some advice. I went to TCF with my father to see the Gophers play the Bison -- as a North Dakotan by birth, a Minneapolitan by choice with the U my alma mater, I realized I could root for everyone. It made the game much more enjoyable. There wasn't any Them, just Us. Best day I had at the game in years. Try it, Vikings fans! But, you say, that defeats the point of being a Vikings fan. Well, it's better than the current point of being a Vikings fan, which is defeat.

So enjoy this day. Would you rather they were 4-0, and the rest of us were groaning over 12 inches of snow? DON'T ANSWER THAT.

James Lileks writes a Variety column. He also blogs under Lileks@Lunch.
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